Waterloo Capital L.P. Trims Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Waterloo Capital L.P. reduced its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 5.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,714 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,735 shares during the quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $5,641,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Blackstone by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,894,632 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $11,533,972,000 after purchasing an additional 889,286 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,341,300 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,637,266,000 after buying an additional 444,887 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at $974,448,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Blackstone by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,045,143 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $697,464,000 after acquiring an additional 113,732 shares during the period. Finally, Axiom Investors LLC DE grew its position in shares of Blackstone by 61.2% in the fourth quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE now owns 1,984,892 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $342,235,000 after purchasing an additional 753,766 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Trading Down 6.3 %

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $124.68 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $90.94 billion, a PE ratio of 34.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.61. The company’s 50 day moving average is $156.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $167.11. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.82 and a 52 week high of $200.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.19. Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 20.99%. Equities analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $1.44 dividend. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.62%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is presently 158.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $219.00 to $207.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, February 7th. TD Cowen upgraded Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $149.00 to $230.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Blackstone has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $172.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 301 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,071,260.65. This represents a 0.82 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Blackstone Profile

Blackstone Inc is an alternative asset management firm specializing in real estate, private equity, hedge fund solutions, credit, secondary funds of funds, public debt and equity and multi-asset class strategies. The firm typically invests in early-stage companies. It also provide capital markets services.